[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/fkmt02VhKdA&hl=en] I just discovered an amazing website, an invaluable education tool: Maaping the African American Past (MAAP). This valuable resource was produced by the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL) in partnership with Columbia University’s Teachers College and Creative Curriculum Initiatives (CCI), to enhance the appreciation and study of significant sites and [ Read the full article… ]
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Books Across America
In the fifth grade, I vaguely remember coming home one Sunday afternoon from church and seeing people standing at the intersection of Northfield Rd. and Miles Ave. in Cleveland, Ohio holding hands. That human chain was known as Hands Across America which was an event created to fight hunger and homelessness. In elementary school, we [ Read the full article… ]
28 & Beyond: The Hard-Times Jar
Inspired by the author’s childhood, this tale of a girl longing for a book to call her own warms hearts with its vivid language and beautiful acrylic portraits. In The Hard-Times Jar (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003), written by Ethel Footman Smothers and illustrated by John Holyfield, Emma, the daughter of migrant farm workers, makes up stories and records them on brown paper-bag pages. [ Read the full article… ]
28 & Beyond: The Making of Dr. Truelove
I dislike controversy. I’m drawn to controversy. In between my two realities lies the author of young adult fiction. While the conscious side of me never wants to piss off the literary influencers by writing something they’d deem censor-worthy, when I’m writing (my unconscious side) I’m not thinking about anyone except the characters at hand. That [ Read the full article… ]
28 & Beyond: The Divine Series
Known for her Christian fiction titles written for adults, it was a delight last year to encounter Jacquelin Thomas’ debut YA title Simply Divine which is the first title in a series of books about fifteen year old Divine Matthews-Hardison. After turmoil erupts with her parents, she is forced to go live with a family [ Read the full article… ]
Never underestimate a genius
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km5vbhrKJ8E] This past weekend, I purchased a copy of Kadir Nelson‘s picture book, We Are The Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. I planned to read it and post a review here today. But I can’t. Not enough time. We Are The Ship is a high quality read, not a gratuitous tribute to a [ Read the full article… ]
28 & Beyond: It Chicks
The wild popularity of the Gossip Girl series has resulted in a strange and often contentious divide among those looking for good books for young adult readers and those who read them, regularly. On one side, you have some influencers who absolutely cannot understand the appeal of a book where girls are catty, fashion rules and [ Read the full article… ]
Where I am
Just in case you’re wondering, The Brown Bookshelf is not on hiatus. We’re recovering. The 28 Days Later campaign was a lot of fun, but it was a lot of work, too. In little over a month, we corresponded with 32 authors and illustrators, their agents, editors and publicists. I even spoke with one guy’s [ Read the full article… ]